Re: Kohler XT7 Engine Runs gas through it, of course won't start

Hi everyone, first post on this forum. Looks like a very helpful site! Anyway, I could not resist posting because I also have A lawnmower with this kohler xt7 engine. It's the last year toro super recycler (bought in april). I have always purchased lower line $200 dollar yard machines and decided to spend some more $$ and get a higher quality one. This mower was awesome all year long - started on the first pull every time. Followed the service schedule to the tee since I paid over $500 for this thing (replaced plug, drained oil, run it dry prior to storage and changed air filter). Went to fire it up this spring and it ran for about 2 minutes and choked out. Would not restart! I thought maybe a put old gas in it since the gas I used was about 3 months old - 87 oct. Replaced with new and still would not start. I talked to my local Toro dealership and they said to unscrew the nut on the carb bowl and make sure fuel is flowing through there. Flushed it with new fuel and the fuel went through successfully, but since i have no experiene with this i dont know if there was a partial blockage. Still did not start so i took it in to them and after about 1 week they said it was burning oil and some gasket had a leak? I am still learning about how these engines work, but for a 1 year old motor this is unacceptable. They are still checking with kohler about a kit to fix this and if it is covered under warranty. I will be furious if they come back and say it was "bad gas". I am wondering if what js is speaking of related. This mower may have about 15 hours of use!

Re: Kohler XT7 Engine Runs gas through it, of course won't start

Just got an update from the repair shop (over 1 week) if anyone is familiar with my issue I posted last week about my xt7 toro sr. They have the replacement 'kit' coming and it was determined there was an issue wiith the parts being machined wrong. Something about a hole being drilled too small which is causing a build up of compressed air and forcing oil/gas into the carb? Whatever it is, I'll let you know what becomes of it...it's being covered under the warranty...I'm wondering how many of this engines went out with this apparent fault on the assembly line?

Re: Kohler XT7 Engine Runs gas through it, of course won't start

Sorry for the late update, but I followed advice given here and have it running, at least long enough to mow the lawn, maybe an hour so far. I removed the carb and cleaned thoroughly with carb cleaner. During disasembly I found the gasket was malformed, but I don't think this was the problem. I reassembled, added Sea Foam, and installed a gas cutoff so if it failed again I wouldn't have a quart of gas on my garage floor. So far so good. Thanks for all the help.

Re: Kohler XT7 Engine Runs gas through it, of course won't start

some models of the xt7 have a problem with bad plating on the needle valve and are being replaced under warranty if the engine is within a certain serial number range. so see your local kohler dealer to found out for sure.

Re: Kohler XT7 Engine Runs gas through it, of course won't start

EXACT same thing happened to me today. I bought mine last August. Went to dealer to get a rebuild kit for the carb and he about fell over laughing, said "good luck ... that engine is so new that they dont even have carbs for it available, get on the repair list and prepare to wait for back order parts. He had a list of people with the same issue. He said the XT-7 carb is a lemon and there are alot of issues with it and kohler dosn't have it worked out yet. He aslo said no warranty with no reciept.

Re: Kohler XT7 Engine Runs gas through it, of course won't start

I have the same gas leak problem with my Ariens A173K22 / Kohler XT-7 . First it was the plating in the needle vavle. I cleaned it up myself and it worked for about a month until I left it for over two weeks. Gas on the floor again. I opened it up, took the valve and float out finding no apparent problems. Put it back together and it worked for the day. Several days later, gas on the floor. I clamped the gas line with small vise-grip until next mowing. Unclamped gas line, gas all over the floor. Took out the valve & float. found no problems, put it together.... it worked for the mowing. Days later... gas on the floor. I clamped the gas line. This is now my routine. What are we going to do? The routine all the time? Purchased 8/10. Have not gone through the trouble of bringing in for warranty repair. That might be more hassle than it is worth @ my location.

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